What makes for a grievable life?

Not all lives are valued the same. Some lives are valued more than others. Those who are valued in life are also valued in death. When a life of value is lost we mourn this loss through elaborate memorials.

The title for this video piece comes from a question the philosopher Judith Butler posed when she asked, “What makes for a grievable life?” Butler posed this question when thinking about particular human populations whose lives have become less valuable (and therefor less grievable) through acts of war, racism and societal inequality.

In this video, I set about posing Butler’s question in relation to those non-human animal’s lives whom have been deemed “ungrievable” due to dominant human-centered paradigms which have labeled them as such. This video attempts to subvert the dominant paradigm that posits a chicken’s life as “lunch” rather than a deceased being worthy of a proper burial.